Clamps or straps for conduits and the like



May 25, 1965 w. H. STEWART 3,185,420

CLAMPS OR STRAPS FOR CONDUITS AND THE LIKE Filed June 20, 1965 FIG. I FIG. 2

INVENTOR WILLIAM H. STEWART ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,185,420 CLAMPS OR STRAPS FOR CONDUITS AND THE LIKE William H. Stewart, King Mfg. Co., Jafirey, N.H. Filed June 20, 1963, Ser. No. 289,314 15 Claims. (Cl. 24874) This invention relates to improvements in one-hole and two-hole clamps which may be the snap-on type or the conventional open type hook which consists of a hook portion and a base portion, the base being provided with a hole or hole area which is used to secure the base of the hook to a structure for supporting conduits, cables, pipes, etc. Within the hook portion of the fastener.

The present invention relates to improvements in the overall strength and behaviour characteristics of the cable clamp or strap, and itembodies simple novel ways to make the same much stronger.

One of the objects of the invention resides in a novel way to make the weakest portion of prior art pipe straps much stronger by providing a novel rib construction at the portion of the clamp having a right angular bend where the hookand base join.

Another object of the invention is to provide the clamp with an automatic release mechanism to be usedwhen the operator desires to remove or relocate a clamp.

A further object of the invention is to provide a contact fulcrum to control the angle of the strap in relation to the position of a' conduit that is positioned away from awall- Still another object of the invention is the provision of means to strengthen large conduit straps by providing the strap strip with a vertical wall construction or flange at each edge of the strip for boxing in the horizontal planes ofthe strap to make thestraps much stronger before and after die-shaping them.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings,

' in which: n

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation illustrating one form of strap;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation illustrating another form of strap;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a modification;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a still further modification;

FIG. 5 is'a perspective view illustrating material from which a further modification may be manufactured;

F IG. 6 is a view in side elevation illustrating the modification made from the strip of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 is a view in elevation, looking in the direction of arrow 7 in FIG. 6.

In carrying out the present invention, there is provided a hook-like member 10 which is adapted to hold the conduit or other member such as a pipe. This is the hook portion of the device and integrally associated therewith there is a base portion 12 which is apertured as at 14 to provide for fasteners locating the device in position.

The improvement in FIG. 1 consists in providing bentup edge portions 16 at the edges of the fastening straps intermediate the ends thereof in the region where the base 12 joins the hook member 10. The bending operation is done on an angle and does not draw down or make the material of the device appreciably thinner, but at the same time it provides for a boxed-in angle construction where the clamp or strap is at its weakest, i.e., at

3,185,420 Patented May 25, 1965 the junction of the base 12 and hook portion 10. The same construction of course can be extended to the twohole strap 17 having the two bases 18, 20, these being bent up the same as shown in FIG. 1 as indicated at both junctures 22, 24.

The bent-up areas 16 are generally triangular extending inwardly from the edges of the clamp or strap at a maximum width and tapering or converging inwardly forming strengthening means in the form of struts that resist motion between the bases 12, 18, 20, etc. and the hooks 10 or arches 17. These struts (or gussets) are located at the ends of the juncture of the strap parts as shown, i.e., at the ends of the substantially right angle bend connecting the bases and hooks. These struts or gussets, simply by being turned up or bent as shown, provide very effective buttresses preventing bending between the fastener strap bases and the article holding portions thereof.

This operation is quickly and easily accomplished at little or no extra expense by pressing in the new boxed ends with a forming die as the straps or clamps are cut and formed by dies in the machine as made in the usual manner, and this provides a very strong boxed section vided without additional expense.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, a somewhat similar effect can be produced by providing the strip material of which the clamp or strap is to be made with downturned flanges as at 26, 26 by extruding it in this form or rolling the flanges 26 in forming rolls or dies before the strip material enters the forming dies to be stamped into the shape of straps or clamps. Either the single base type shown in FIG. 1 or the double base type shown in FIG. 2 can be thus formed. This results in a strap as for instance indicated in FIG. 6 which has downwardly extending flanges 28 thereon at the edges thereof throughout the entire device. This is ordinarily used for larger straps or small straps of thinner strip material, and the vertical edges or flanges of course may be formed up or down, depending upon which way the strip of FIG. 5 is placed in the dies.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is here shown two different constructions for providing fulcrum members generally indicated by the reference numerals 30,

. 30 in FIG. 3 and 32 in FIG. 4. These are made by punching or impressing the material of the base 12 downwardly at either side of the fastener opening 34 to provide a rocker member on the bottom of the base. In FIG. 4 the same or similar action is performed in a single roll on the base. 12 but to the rear of the opening 34 which provides a fulcrum at a different location. The fulcrum 30, 30 is intermediate the ends of the base 12 while that at 32 is adjacent the free end thereof.

The fulcrum construction is advantageous in removing the strap or clamp after it has been installed and a simple blow by a hammer or other tool on the base will cause the hook 10 to disengage from the conduit pipe or other member to which it is engaged. This fulcrum can also be applied in the same Way to the two-hole strap of FIG. 2 or FIG. 6.

While the new conduit or cable clamp is preferably formed of pressed steel strip, it may be formed by the casting of any suitable metals or plastics without departing from the scope of the invention.

Preferably, although not necessarily, one hole or two hole clamps are made from continuous coils of strip steel which are automatically fed into automatic dies to be cut and formed.

The strain is most prominent in the right-angular bend where the base and hook portions of the devices are joined together. The clamps are now produced embodying a ridge in this area which extends from adjacent the fastening hole to various points over the hook portion of the clamps. Attempts have been made to double over the base portion of a clamp and have it join onto the hook portion above the right angular bend between the base and the hook so that the strain of the conduit in the hook would rest its weight more on the base. The strain put on this right angular portion when the clamp is being secured to a wall is also severe and has to be rigid enough to prevent opening and distortion of the, hook portion. Examples of prior art in these respects are shown in United States Patents 1,328,376; 1,328,377; 1,365,629 and 1,381,198.

Although these constructions are improvements over clamps formed without stiffening ridges, the improvements in the present invention greatly improve both one-hole and two-hole clamps to make them much more rigid without resorting to pressed ridges in the forming of the clamps. Also the reenforced areas disclosed herein are superior to prior art clamps which still show signs of weakness at critical points even though ridges are embodied in their design and thicker materials are also used.

It has been found that pressing such ridges in prior art clamps to increase their strength is limited to the size of the ridges embodied in the design unless the method of doubling the base portion is adopted to increase the size of the. stiffening ridges, see the above identified patents. This double construction in the base portion is too expensive because it is the custom of the trade to make straps formed of one piece of relatively thick strip steel material without resorting to double sections.

Where the term strap is used herein, it is intended to refer to the type of device described and to cover clamps for any objects desired to be held thereby.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A fastening strap comprising a hook member and an integral base member wherein the hook member is adapted to hold an object to a support and the base member is adapted to be secured in position, the hook member having a portion thereof adjacent the base member which is at an angle with relation thereto, and means forming strengthening elements adjacent the ends of the juncture of the said hook portion and the base member, said elements being in the form of struts located at the edges of the strap.

2. The fastening strap recited in claim 1 wherein said struts provide a boxed-in construction at the juncture of the hook portion and base members.

3. The fastening strap recited in claim 1 wherein said 4 struts comprise flanges extending substantially the length of the base member.

4. The fastening strap of claim 1 wherein the struts are in the form of generally triangular gussets.

5. The fastening strap of claim 1 wherein the struts extend inwardly from said edges.

6. The fastening strap of claim 1 wherein the struts extend inwardly toward each other from said edges.

7. The fastening strap of claim 1 wherein the struts extend inwardly from said edges, tapering down from a maximum at the edges of the strap.

8. The fastening strap recited in claim 1 including a second base member integral with said hook member and spaced from the first base member, and strengthening struts at the juncture of the second base member and the adjacent portions of the hook member.

9. The fastening strap recited in claim 1 including means forming a fulcrum in said base member.

10. The fastening strap recited in claim 1 including means forming a fulcrum in the base member intermediate the ends of the base member.

11. The fastening strap recited in claim 1 including a fulcrum in said base member, said fulcrum being located adjacent the end of the base member spaced from the hook member, said fulcrum extending across the base member.

12. A strap comprising a hook member and an integral base member located at an angle to the adjacent portion of the hook member, and means forming a fulcrum in the base member.

13. The strap recited in claim 12 wherein said means includes a depress-ion in said base member having a portion thereof extending below the lower surface of said base member.

14. The strap recited in claim 12 wherein said means includes .a depression in said base member having a portion thereof extending below the lower surface of said base member, said depression being located intermediate the ends of the base member.

15. The strap recited in claim 12 wherein said means includes a depression in said base member having a portion thereof extending below the lower surface of said base member wherein said depression is adjacent the end of said base member remote from the hook member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 785,100 3/05 Hogdon 248-74 1,776,343 9/30 Allyn 248-74 3,012,746 12/ 61 Pfaff et al 248-74 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FASTENING STRAP COMPRISING A HOOK MEMBER AND AN INTEGRAL MEMBER WHEREIN THE HOOK MEMBER IS ADAPTED TO HOLD AN OBJECT TO A SUPPORT AND THE BASE MEMBER IS ADAPTED TO BE SECURED IN POSITION, THE HOOK MEMBER HAVING A PORTION THEREOF ADJACENT THE BASE MEMBER WHICH IS AT AN ANGLE WITH RELATION THERETO, AND MEANS FORMING STRENGTHENING ELEMENTS ADJACENT THE ENDS OF THE JUNCTURE OF THE SAID HOOK PORTION AND THE BASE MEMBER, SAID ELEMENTS BEING IN THE FORM OF STRUTS LOCATED AT THE EDGES OF THE STRAP. 